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Within the space of two seasons, there is already a magic feeling surrounding the Melbourne derby that permeates the city. The derby is starting to transcend sporting lines in a city where football is relegated to smaller column spaces.

Despite the fact the AFL Record sorry the Herald Sun is back with a vengeance, after that pesky tennis was in the way for a fortnight.

Notwithstanding the fact the new love affair of glorified backyard cricket (20Twenty) and a one-day international is at the MCG this weekend. Amongst the community, there is a feeling the number one sporting event in town this weekend, will be at AAMI Park where the Victory and Heart go head to head for a sixth time in their already eventful rivalry.

Speaking with people who love sport but who do not necessarily love the A-League, the resounding feedback is that if you are going to go to an A-League match then head to a Melbourne derby. Short of the ridiculous hyperbole written for previous Melbourne derbies, comparing them to famous derbies around the world, there is no doubt that this match has already stamped itself in Melbourne’s sporting calendar as not just another match but an event.

Melbourne we know lives and breathes sporting contests, and when the sport is big enough, it gets recognised as an event. We have just had the tennis dominate Melbourne for a fortnight, The Melbourne Cup dominates the spring, AFL has grand final week and the ANZAC Day match; the Formula 1 Grand Prix is in March. All these sports have become events.

For football this is becoming the way for the derby. Sell-outs and big crowds to particular matches and not others suggests that there is something special about them. With the derby we get that.

While the build up felt bigger to the Christmas derby, this match is certainly no less important for the Heart and Victory fans. Heart in their second season will be playing for more than bragging rights with a finals berth to be secured. Melbourne Victory are playing for… well, nobody knows this year, because they are not playing for each other, nor their precious coach, and the jury is out on the incumbent as well.

So the stage is set, we know the costumes and the players, but we don’t know who will take the lead role, nor how the show will end. Nevertheless the audience is pouring in, because recent memories remind them it will deliver.

Oh, and because it’s the most talked and biggest event in town.

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The Crowd Says (26) | Page of Comments

The derby is no doubt a significant game of soccer and a big deal for fans of the two teams. To suggest however that it’s the biggest event in town is simply false. Media attention and public interest has been squarely on the cricket, with over 60k at the T20 international last night.

By all means watch and enjoy the derby, it certainly does attract more interest than most soccer games and has established a strong niche in the city’s sporting calendar. But baseless claims don’t help your cause. From a purely subjective basis, there has been far more discussion about the superbowl at my work place than the soccer, particularly amongst younger people, but I won’t claim that this proves NFL is bigger than soccer in Melbourne.

I dont care what Fairfax and News think there is only one football to some and it’s one of the most important games on our calender .To each his own .

Superbowl, seven hours of men smashing into one another “for technically an hour” that cant think in the first place, and need tactics from a coach on the sideline for the game to run fluently “cough”. “Ya da man” i’ll leave that to the Yanks,seven hours of boredom thanks but no thanks .

Bondy, The NFL is tactically one of the more complex sports. Infact the coaching staff play a more vital role arguably then coaches in most other sports.. Each play requires the coordinators/coach to implement a certain play (one of potentially hundreds).

Don’t scoff at the the tactics of the game If you have no idea what you are talking about.

There seems to have been a lot less build up to this match than any other derby. Maybe it’s because of both teams poor form going into the match which is a shame because this game is more critical than if both teams were sitting comfortably within the six. Even though there are seven weeks to go a loss to either side tonight is likely to be psychologically crippling and herald the effective end of that teams season. Even a draw for Melbourne Victory is likely to be the final nail in their current campaign. A win on the other hand will bring a huge wave of relief for either side and reignite their push toward the finals. There is much more on the line is tonight’s game than just they usual bragging rights.

Stop trying to gee this game up it’s a myth. I had a mate come around yesterday really pumped up about the derby carrying on about it like a world cup final. We all said to him mate it’s no that big of a deal and he thought about it for a second and said yeah, your right.
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you clearly want to be watching something else, so don’t bother commenting on blogs/columns like these…personally, the derby is an amazing event and one that is a must see, even if you aren’t a Victory or Heart supporter

Absolutely – for me, in the space of 2 years, the HAL Melbourne Derby is, by far, the biggest sporting event for me in Melbourne. Of course, the HAL GF or a major WCQ would also be huge but, these are not events we can rely on occurring every year.

Amongst my group of football mates we probably have a few more MHT fans than MVFC and the increased banter this week will reach a crescendo as we gather at the Precinct Hotel to watch CCM v BRI before making the journey to AAMI Park, which is the best sporting venue in Melbourne.

Well, I’ve just returned from playing my Saturday morning football match and I haven’t heard a single person talk about anything but the Derby today.

I didn’t even know there was a Cricket International played in Melbourne last night until I heard Matt Thompson on SEN radio devote the opening 1/2 hr of his programme to talking about the disgusting behaviour of the cricket crowd.

I guess it all depends on the social circle where you mix. For me and everyone that I know, it’s Melbourne Derby and nothing else. To be perfectly honest, since the HAL started, I don’t really care what non-football fans think about anything.

Amongst your fellow soccer players there was interst in a soccer match? I suppose to individuals with a limited understanding of data, causality and observer bias this might be considered notable.

Also, I note with interest your claim to be uninterested in the opinions of non-soccer fans about soccer, and respectfully suggest that this contention is not supported by the observable data – in this case your various postings on this website.

Soccerbot3000 or should we call you Fake ex-AFL Fan? Why did you change your name … again?

Good to see you spending so much time talking Football. I’ve go 1730 rendezvous at the Precinct Hotel to kick start of the biggest sporting night we’ve had in Melbourne this year, so I’d better take an afternoon nap.